Rocketeer's Corner
Friday, January 1, 2021
What to do when OpenRocket no longer works...
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Bye Bye 2020!
Can't say I'll be sorry to see you gone... COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the world, causing many deaths, lost livelihoods, business failures, and radical changes in our daily lives. It also impacted the rocketry hobby, causing the cancellation of launches and a shift to online meetings. In addition to this plague, we had to deal with considerable bad weather - my goodness, the number of hurricanes! Hard to imagine a worse year.
Hoping 2021 turns out to be much better!
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Whoops!
![]() |
Quest Q E-Z Payloader (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Q E-Z Payloader flight profile from November HARA launch (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Ignition (Click to enlarge)! |
![]() |
Coasting upward (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Parachute deploy (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Altimeter and nose cone falling away (Click to enlarge). |
Comparing instruments...
Today's electronics are wonderful; you can fit a lot of measurement capability into a very small package. There are a goodly number of choices available from various vendors and it is a very natural thing to compare capabilities and accuracy, especially when new products hit the market. That's one reason I built the clone of the Centuri RX-16 and the beefy Big Bertha look-a-like, Beulah. Their large payload sections and interchangeable motor mounts enable me to fly multiple instruments on the same flight, facilitating comparisons.
![]() |
PocketLab Voyager |
I was perusing the Estes website last month, and came across these teacher's bundles, which feature the large 24mm powered Green Eggs rocket and some electronics gizmo called the PocketLab. The prices were a little rich for my wallet, but I was intrigued by the PocketLab - I had not heard of it. A Google search instantly produced the manufacturer's website, where I learned that the PocketLab included in the Estes bundles was the PocketLab Voyager, a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.6 inch mini laboratory capable of making measurements of the following:
- Acceleration
- Angular Velocity
- Magnetic Field
- Barometric Pressure
- Altitude
- Infrared Rangefinder
- Internal Temperature
- Temperature Probe
- Humidity
- Light Intensity
![]() |
Comparison of altitude data taken on November 14 (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
FlightSketch Mini and PocketLab Voyager acceleration data for the November 14 RX-16 flight (Click to enlarge). |
Sunday, November 22, 2020
The one where nothing goes right...
![]() |
My LGM lies on the ground after its fall (Click to enlarge). |
Yesterday was a very nice day, perfect rocket flying weather - clear sky, no wind, and an afternoon high of 70 degrees. So Duane and I packed our stuff and headed out to Pegasus field to launch a few rockets before the Thanksgiving holidays begin. Greg and Josh joined us, and there were quite a few launchings. The up parts generally went OK... Not so much with the landings. The short summary is that Duane and I had terrible luck on the field, and I hope it doesn't stick around for the next launch.
The first rocket off the pad was my new Estes Centurion, a foam rocket styled like a space fighter. It looks pretty darn sharp, and flew low but straight on an Estes A8-3.
![]() | ![]() |
Centurion on pad (Click to enlarge). | Centurion clears the rod (Click to enlarge). |
Duane's 2019 Christmas rocket followed mine, heading up into the blue on a D12-3. We saw the model arc over and waited for ejection to occur. And waited, and waited, and waited... Right up to the point where the rocket smacked headlong into the ground, popping a fin off and squishing old Frosty's head pretty good. Damage is repairable, but I bet the snowman has a terrible headache.
![]() | ![]() |
Duane with his Xmas rocket (Click to enlarge). | Up, up, and away (Click to enlarge)! |
![]() | ![]() |
Frosty has a headache (Click to enlarge)! | Greg shows off his Star Wars outfit (Click to enlarge). |
![]() | ![]() |
The motor in the Cherokee-F ignites (Click to enlarge). | The payload section coupler appears as the forward closure fails (Click to enlarge). |
Josh had mixed luck yesterday - his 3D printed Y-Wing broke apart on a hard landing, but the Estes Multiroc had a pretty good flight (even found the glider). His Starbase Starcruiser flew well on a Q-Jet, but the lad has yet to perfect his cluster technique. Despite the use of low current Q2G2 igniters, only one motor in his NASA Deuces Wild lit, causing the model to arc over into the ground - just like it did at the club launch a couple of weeks ago. Everything went fine with the flight of the Fliskits ACME Spitfire, but his 2 stage Estes Supernova had a slight issue. The booster fit too tightly into the upper stage, so that the 2nd stage motor blew the lower motor right out the back of the first stage, scorching the booster a bit. It hung on throughout the flight.
![]() | ![]() |
Josh's Y-Wing gets going (Click to enlarge). | The Multiroc starts up the rod (Click to enlarge). |
![]() | ![]() |
The Starbase Starcruiser rises on a black pillar of smoke (Click to enlarge). | Uh oh (Click to enlarge)! |
![]() | ![]() |
Josh's ACME Spitfire on a D12 (Click to enlarge). | The 1st stage in the Supernova ignites (Click to enlarge). |
Duane hoped to reverse the recovery failure trend by flying one of his reliable TARC rockets. The model shot off the pad, attaining a respectable altitude. We saw it arc over and then heard the rocket whistle in as it plunged straight into the ground - it was buried so deep that Duane had to struggle to pull it from the Earth. As Dr. McCoy would say, "It was dead, Jim." I was beginning to feel extremely sorry for Duane, but, determined to have a successful flight, he pulled out his Estes Cherokee E and loaded it on the pad. It too flew straight as an arrow, but the parachute partially unfurled, and the rocket had a hard landing on the asphalt entrance to the Blue Origin parking lot. 2 fins broke off, - that was it for Duane. He sadly loaded his corpses and casualties into the SUV and watched the remaining few flights, refraining from some colorful language because of the presence of Josh and his mother.
![]() | ![]() |
Duane hooks up the igniter (Click to enlarge). | Duane's TARC rocket clears the rail (Click to enlarge). |
Which brings it back to me and my remaining two flights. These would not go as well as that of the Centurion.
![]() | ![]() |
The LGM blasts off (Click to enlarge). | My RX-16 under Q-Jet power (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Frame showing staging from camera on the LGM (Click to enlarge). |
Sunday, November 15, 2020
A perfect day for flying...
![]() |
Flyers begin to assemble for the pre-launch briefing (Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
Members of a college team waiting their turn to launch (Click to enlarge). |
Let's start off with Chuck's flight of his Dynasoar Fireball XL-5. Frank Burke makes these beautiful kits, and I only wish had the RC skills to fly them (I learned long ago I can only handle things in ballistic trajectories). The XL-5 put in a superb flight, echoing that of the Star Trek-themed U.S.S Orion, which was Chuck's first of the day. True to form, he switched to flying a couple of planes as the day wore on, much to the enjoyment of the folks away from the flight line.
Chuck's Fireball XL-5 in flight (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). |
Chuck shows off his flying skill (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). |
![]() |
John Kraieski's rocket in flight (Photo by Drew Hardwick - Click to enlarge). |
Josh's Y-Wing in flight (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). | Josh's Deuce begins to arc over (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). |
Vince converted a Pegasus Apollo 27 plastic model for flight. When asked by the LCO if it was to be a "Heads Up" flight, he responded with a negative. My comment was "All plastic model conversions are heads up flights." Even though it was a bit underpowered, the Apollo 27 was quite stable in the air; however, my words proved to be prophetic when nothing came out at ejection, leaving the model to shatter upon impact with the ground. I felt sympathy for Vince - he had obviously put a lot of work into that build.
Vince's Apollo 27 leaves the rod (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). |
A Falcon 9/Dragon model heads skyward (Photo by Patrick Morrison - Click to enlarge). |
Sunday, November 8, 2020
A question of supply...
![]() |
Estes Yankee Clipper (Click to enlarge). |
I have been making good progress finishing off builds that have languished for months. This year's 4th of July rocket, the Yankee Clipper, is finally done, and I have 4 others sitting in white primer awaiting their coats of paint. Considering they were in gray primer at the beginning of the week, that's good progress, especially when you realize that I had to sand all that primer off before applying the white. I was pretty pleased with myself as I started looking for my cans of gloss white, which I use as the base coat on all of my models.
![]() |
Models in primer - from left, clone of the Estes Screaming Eagle, Estes Olympus, Jupiter-C plastic model conversion, and the Boyce Redstone Missile (Click to enlarge). |
And that's when I realized I had a problem...
I had only a couple of cans of Krylon gloss white, and those were practically empty - maybe enough for the small Screaming Eagle, but certainly not enough for the Estes Olympus and the Boyce Redstone. So I hopped onto the Internet to order a case (6 cans) of Krylon Acryli-Quik gloss white.
Only to find out no one had any...
It turns out that the manufacturer (Krylon) is suffering from a materials shortage due to the pandemic, and gloss white is backordered to the tune of 1-2 months.
Yuck...
![]() |
Desperately looking for cans of this stuff... |
I could use another paint brand like Rustoleum, but it isn't as forgiving as Krylon with regard to runs and drips; also, other folks have had poor "orange peel" or crinkled finishes. Not my thing...
So I scoured the Internet some more, and finally located a couple of cans in a mom and pop shop up North. So I placed the order, and am keeping my fingers crossed their online inventory is accurate.
Because no one else has any.
However, things are not at a complete stop. I have a can of Testor's white to use on the Jupiter-C, so it will get moved to the front of the line while I await the arrival of more Krylon. That's probably a good thing, because it takes Testor's enamel a long, long time to dry (at least a week).
The pandemic continues to affect us in unforeseen ways...